


Duscaean Dreams

by Kibasdaydreams



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: (Coleman ought to cut me a cheque), BrOT4, Brotherhood, Camping, Camping conventions, Celebrity Chef, Chocobros - Freeform, Dreams prompt, FFXV week 2, FFXV week 2 day 2, Friendship, Gen, Humour, Photography show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 23:23:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7661185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kibasdaydreams/pseuds/Kibasdaydreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do these four young men dream about whilst camping in the wilderness?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duscaean Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Originally for FFXV week 2 on Tumblr. Constructive criticism is welcome, but please don't be nasty. Feel free to follow me on Tumblr: http://kibasdaydreams.tumblr.com
> 
> Enjoy and please comment!

Four young men sat in identical deck chairs around a roaring campfire, the light casting a soft amber glow on them and their surroundings in the lush plains of Duscae; above them, an inky night sky stretched on endlessly illuminated by beautiful starry constellations and a pale full moon. They relaxed together in relative silence with nothing but the crackling of the wood providing the sole conversation, their stomachs full of tender roast stew compliments of Ignis. Tonight, they were content.

Suddenly, Noctis let out a small yawn, breaking the cosy ambiance which held the group spellbound. “I think we ought to retire for the evening,” said Ignis as he rose from his seat to put out the fire, aided by Prompto.

Gladiolus stretched his arms up before getting up himself, “Hmm, yeah you’re right as usual, Iggy.” He approached the drowsy prince, and grabbing his arm he pulled him upright. “Come on, Sleeping Beauty, let’s get you into bed. Noctis gave a hum in agreement before hauling himself onto his feet with his bodyguard’s assistance. 

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth!” Ignis called, causing both Prompto and Gladiolus to burst into laughter at their friend’s embarrassment. Noctis felt his face heat up as he rolled his eyes, “Yes, Mom,” he muttered under his breath as he fumbled for his toothbrush and paste in their bag of toiletries. 

“I heard that,” the bespectacled man called out with a slight smirk, making his charge flinch in surprise.

“Send him to his room, Iggy!” Prompto sniggered. “No dessert for the next week!”

“Prompto, please,” Gladiolus said sternly, folding his arms across his broad chest. “He shouldn’t be allowed dessert for the next two weeks,” he deadpanned. Prompto threw his head back in laughter – even Ignis couldn’t help but let out chuckle or two. 

“You guys are so annoying,” Noctis pouted.

“Aww, don’t be like that, Noct!” Prompto raced up to his friend, and slung his arm over the prince’s shoulder. “You know we love you, buddy!”

“Yeah yeah,” he replied, shoving the other playfully with a small smile brightening his normally neutral expression. He adored his group’s antics (although they were often at his expense); he felt completely at ease with these men and trusted them with his life, which was rather difficult for someone of his shy character. 

Eventually, the group were ready for bed, and eagerly clambering into the shared tent they lay down in their respective spaces (with Noctis having claimed early on in their journey that the particular corner he slept in on their third night was the cosiest spot (and, therefore, was his) due to the angle of the light breeze that blew on it), and said their goodnights before sleep overwhelmed them.

***

“And there you have it: my signature thick sliced steak with sweet potato fries and a mint garnish. I find that the sauce we cooked it in is essential as the sweetness you get from the caramelized onion and the spoonful of redcurrant jam offsets the umami of the meat. Good luck in the kitchen.”

“CUT!”

Ignis sighed in relief. As much as he loved his job the studio contract was definitely his least favourite aspect of it, not that he didn’t enjoy sharing his culinary knowledge with his fans – he just found it difficult to concentrate while having to explain every little thing as well as maintaining eye contact with the damn camera. ‘You’ve got a handsome face’ he was told by his producers. ‘Use your assets well!’ He was a five star celebrity chef who owned the famous ‘Scientia’ restaurant in the trendiest neighbourhood of Insomnia, so why had to endure this humiliation was beyond him.

“Iggy, that was great!”

He whipped up his head up. “Prompto,” he said as he hurriedly washed his hands, and went around the kitchen island to greet his friend. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah, well, I just came to make sure you weren’t stressing out or anything,” the blond answered.

“Stressed? Why would I be stressed?”

“C’mon, you know what day it is.”

Ignis cocked one eyebrow up in confusion, causing Prompto to gasp and gape at the older man. “How could you forget?,” he all but shrieked, raising quite a few worried looks from the studio staff. “Today is Noct’s birthday! And you’re gonna be the one making his birthday dinner and cake!”

Ignis gasped in horror; how could he have forgotten something so important?! This was his next step in his career – serving his best friend, and his prince on such a special occasion that was sure to make all the headlines tomorrow (well, maybe the tabloid ones). His entire life had been leading up to this moment! And yet, oddly enough, he didn’t remember ever being told this until today. But there was no time to lose; he ran to his car – not bothering to say goodbye to Prompto – and raced through the streets of the capital to his restaurant.

He would make Noctis a meal to remember for sure, he thought as he swung the kitchen doors open before he quickly donned his uniform. This evening was going to be perfect.

And it was. For some reason Ignis didn’t really recall making the food, but images of the final products and Noctis’ delighted face flashed through his mind as he sat at the prince’s right-hand side (just like he’d always wanted) on the dinner table with Prompto seated next to him, and Gladiolus adjacent to them. It didn’t matter anyway – it was just him and his closest friends sitting together safe and sound.

***

Gladiolus couldn’t believe his luck – a Coleman convention right here in Insomnia! For three whole days! Too bad he didn’t have a ticket because the line was really long. 

“Ah, onii-chan, what are you doing out here?” Iris, his little sister, asked. How long had she been standing beside him? “Why haven’t you gone in?”

He turned to her, confused, “I don’t have a ticket.”

“What?” a new voice called out. Noctis was standing on Gladiolus’ other side along with Ignis and Prompto. When had they gotten there? “It’s in your pocket. You checked about a million times before we left the palace.” 

Before pointing out (using a few choice words) that that was impossible since he hadn’t even heard of this convention, let alone purchased any tickets, he dug his hands into his pockets, immediately feeling a small, rectangular piece of thick card, which he fished out. It was a ticket – not just any ticket, but a VIP ticket for early entrance with absolutely no queuing whatsoever! Seriously, when had he bought this thing?

“Yay! Now we can go in! I smell burgers…” Prompto cheered gleefully, letting his nose guide them to the VIP entrance.

“Prompto, please don’t go wandering off on your own…” Ignis moaned as he trudged behind the bubbly blond. Noctis followed suite, chuckling lightly while shaking his head.

A petite hand suddenly took Gladiolus’ own larger one. “Let’s go, onii-chan,” his sister said, beaming up at him. He returned her smile, and curling his fingers around her palm he led them inside the convention centre. 

His jaw dropped in awe at the sheer number of Coleman products: there were Coleman grills, Coleman coolers, Coleman tents, Coleman lanterns – even Coleman badminton and croquet sets! He could spend an eternity in here, surrounded by quality camping equipment and good friends and family.

***

The wind whipped wildly through Prompto’s golden locks as he drove the Regalia through the beautiful Duscaean landscape, grinning so much that his buccal muscles were beginning to fatigue. “You are indeed an excellent driver, Prompto,” Ignis commented. It was a little weird hearing him give him such straight-forward praise, particularly regarding his driving skills, but Prompto chose not to question it. 

“Thanks!” he called back, having had to raise his voice slightly to be heard over the roaring wind.

“You took some really good pictures, Chocobo Head,” Gladiolus praised from the backseat with Noctis. “Your photography show is gonna be a hit for sure!”

Prompto laughed sheepishly, “Ah, you really think so? Don’t jinx me, man!” He was seriously worried; this was to be his first-ever photography show after all, and he’d spent so much time snapping shots in the both city and countryside accompanied by his closest friends. He chewed his lip nervously as doubts began to flood into his mind. What if people didn’t like it? They might think his photos were too amateurish, or that his central theme wasn’t portrayed well enough. Or worse, they might say that the theme itself was terrible. Prompto hoped that wouldn’t be the case. The theme of the show was very personal to him – it was essentially Prompto Argentum in photographic form!

“Prompto,” said Noctis, cutting into his reverie. Quizzically, Prompto looked up into his rearview mirror; honest sapphires stared back at him “Your portfolio is wonderful.”

The blond turned around in an instant, gaping at his best friend. “Y-you really mean that, Noct? Like, seriously honestly?”

The prince nodded sagely, “They’re not perfect, but then,” he smiled softly, “so is the essence of the theme itself.”

Prompto’s own blue eyes widened to the size of saucers (still not back on the road – it was a miracle they hadn’t crashed), and he nodded vigorously. “Yeah, it’ll be great!”

And even if it wasn’t, so what? He couldn’t care less what a bunch of upper-class strangers thought of him. He didn’t need fortune and fame to make him happy. His friends understood him and appreciated him. That was enough to make his heart sing with happiness and pride. In his mind, ‘Four Pals, One Car’ was already a success.

***

Nobody had seen it coming. The invaders were reshaping the whole world into their image. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide – they were unstoppable. Noctis had tried to warn everybody, but nobody had believed him. ‘How could it possibly harm anybody?’ they had said, laughing in his face. And now there were no survivors save for him.

He was running as fast as possible. He had to get away lest he meet the same horrible fate!

“Noct, wait up!”

He froze. His friends – his friends had survived the attack!

Noctis turned around, and his relieved face fell in horror and shock. “No,” he thought. “Not you guys too…” Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto had all fallen victim to the transformation process, looking just as disgusting as those damn invaders.

“Noct, come join us,” they said surrounding him. When had they gotten so close? Less than a metre away, Noctis could see the horrendous mutilation in all its glory: his trusted bodyguard had been turned into a carrot just as tall as he once was, his wise advisor was transformed into a turnip which was still wearing his signature glasses, and his best friend had been changed into a head of white cabbage.

“Eat your vegetables, Noct…” they commanded as they attempted to force spoonfuls of the vile veggies into his mouth.

He kicked, he struggled, but alas it was fruitless. “NO!” he screamed as he was held down by his mutated friends, the awful vegetables finally forced down his throat.

***

The screams from their prince in the dark night woke the young men up immediately, automatically summoning their weapons as they frantically searched the tent for his attackers. However, there were no intruders to be found. “Noct!” Prompto shouted as he rushed to his friend’s side, still rather disoriented from being woken up so suddenly. He violently shook him as Ignis and Gladiolus came over shouting their charge’s name, trying to pull him out of his horrible nightmare. 

Blue eyes suddenly opened as Noctis bolted upright and grabbed hold of Prompto. “Prom!” he shouted, his eyes wild and his fingers digging into the blond’s arms . “Tell me you’re not a cabbage!”

“Wha-?”

“Just tell me you guys haven’t been turned into vegetables!”

“Okay okay! We haven’t been turned into vegetables!” 

Noctis visibly relaxed at that as he reclosed his eyes, and shifted to lay back down onto the ground again. “Thank goodness,” he sighed in relief, falling asleep almost upon impact.

The three men looked at each other in confusion still panting slightly from the shock. 

Clearly, this journey had been taking its toll on the young prince.


End file.
